Standards-Based Reform and the Poverty Gap Lessons for "No Child Left Behind"

by Gamoran, Adam

• ISBN13: 9780815730323
• ISBN10: 0815730322
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-11-14
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Summary

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is the latest in more than two decades of federal efforts to raise educational standards and an even longer stream of initiatives to improve education for poor children. What lessons can we draw from these earlier efforts to help NCLB achieve its goals? In Standards-Based Reform and the Poverty Gap, leading scholars in sociology, economics, psychology, and education policy take on this critical question.Armed with the latest data and up-to-date research syntheses, the authors show that standards-based reform has had some positive effects, particularly in the area of teacher quality. Moreover, some of the critics' greatest fears have not been realized: for example, retention rates have not shot upward. Yet the overall pace of improvement has been slow, owing in part to poor implementation. Based on these findings, the contributors offer recommendations for the implementation and impending reauthorization of NCLB. These proposals, such as national testing and a rethinking of achievement targets, are sure to be at the center of the upcoming debate.Contributors include Thomas Dee, Laura Desimone, George Farkas, Barbara Foorman, Brian Jacob, Robert M. Hauser, Paul Hill, Tom Loveless, Meredith Phillips, Andrew C. Porter, and Thomas Smith.

Table of Contents

The Context of Contemporary Education Reform
Introduction: Can Standards-Based Reform Help Reduce the Poverty Gap in Education?	p. 3
Standards-Based Educational Reform Is One Important Step Toward Reducing the Achievement Gap	p. 17
Looking Back: Standards-Based Reforms and Opportunities for the Disadvantaged
How Did the Statewide Assessment and Accountability Policies of the 1990s Affect Instructional Quality in Low-Income Elementary Schools?	p. 45
Has NCLB Improved Teacher and Teaching Quality for Disadvantaged Students?	p. 89
Grade Retention in the Age of Standards-Based Reform	p. 120
Do High School Exit Exams Influence Educational Attainment or Labor Market Performance?	p. 154
Looking Forward: Standards, Sanctions, and the Future of NCLB
The Role of Tutoring in Standards-Based Reform	p. 201
NCLB School Choice and Children in Poverty	p. 229
The Peculiar Politics of No Child Left Behind	p. 253
NCLB Lessons Learned: Implications for Reauthorization	p. 286
About the Editor and Authors	p. 325
Index	p. 329
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